POLEMONIUM 



POLIANTHES 



2731 



late, usually less than 1 in. long: fls. commonly white 

 or cream-colored, rarely violet, an inch or less long, 

 corymbose-cymose. the corolla twice the length of the 

 calyx: stamens and style not exserted: caps, nearly 

 globose. Rocky Mts. Cult, some years ago, but per- 

 haps never offered in Amer. 



cc. Fls. blue (to white). 



9. caeruleum, Linn. JACOB'S LADDER. CHARITY. Fig. 

 3092. Stout perennial herb, erect and leafy, 1-3 ft.: 

 st. lightly hairy or nearly smooth, more or less glandular, 

 angled: radical Ivs. forming dense tufts, on petioles 6 in. 

 or more long, the Ifts. 11-21, lanceolate and mostly 

 acuminate, entire; st.-lvs. smaller, very short-petioled 

 or sessile near top of st.: 

 fls. blue, many drooping in 

 a panicle (frs. erect), 1 in. 

 or less diam., the stamens 

 not exserted; style pro- 

 truded: corolla-lobes broad 

 and spreading, subacute or 

 mucronulate : calyx cam- 

 panulate, with oblong acute 

 lobes: caps, included in the 

 calyx. Eu., mostly in copses 

 and along streams, in moist 

 or wet ground. Var. album, 

 Hort. (P. album, Hort. . 

 with white fls., is almost as 

 popular as the type. Var. 

 variegatum, Hort., has va- 

 riegated foliage. There is 

 also a dwarf form. P. 

 cserulfum is widespread and 

 variable, and the geographic 

 forms are sometimes set off 

 as species. Var. himalaya- 

 num, Baker (P. himalaya- 

 num, Baker. P. grandi- 

 florum, Hort., not Benth. 

 P. caeruleum var. grandi- 

 florum, J. W. Manning . is 

 the Himalayan form, with 

 large fls. \Yi in. across, 

 lilac-blue or darker, the 

 rounded lobes nearly H m - 

 across: calyx and axis of 

 panicle very hairy. In 

 separating the American 

 forms, much is made of 

 the character of the root- 

 stock. Greene, who has 

 studied them, describes the 

 true P. csrruhum of Eu. and of gardens as having a 

 tap-root surmounted by a stout short simple or branch- 

 ing very leafy crown standing above ground. Hooker, 

 however, speaks of the rootstock as short, creeping. 

 The E. American representative, native in cold swamps 

 and along streams, Vt. to Md., and probably not in 

 regular cult., is now separated as P. Van-Bruntiae, 

 Brit.; from P. caeruleum it differs in having horizontal 

 stout rootstocks, more leafy st., exserted stamens, 

 rounded (not mucronulate) petals, accrescent calyx 

 which becomes twice or three times the size of that of 

 P. cszruleum, broader and fewer Ifts., and fewer ovules. 

 It bears considerable resemblance to P. reptans, but 

 that species has a diffuse habit, fls. hah" the size, sta- 

 mens included and calyx lobed only about one-third 

 its length, the lobes obtuse. This species bears the 

 name of Mrs. Van Brunt. The Rocky Mountain 

 representative is separated as P. occidentale, Greene, 

 differing from P. cscruleum in having slender rootstocks, 

 upper part of st. viscid-pubescent, Ifts. narrower, 

 lanceolate, stamens only the length of the corolla, the 

 fruiting calyx not nearly so large and the lobes obtuse 

 or obtusish. L_ jj. B.f 



3092. Polemonium weroleum. 



POLlANTHES (name discussed below). Amaryl- 

 lidacese. TUBEROSE. Tender summer-flowering bulb, 

 producing long spikes of very fragrant blossoms; by 

 successional plantings, it may be had at different 

 seasons; commonly double-flowered. 



Developed Ivs. mostly basal, those on the st. short: 

 perianth white; tube long, narrowly funnel-shaped, 

 curved; segms. short, subequal; stamens affixed at the 

 middle of the tube, not exserted; ovary 3-celled, free 

 at apex; stigmas 3, ovate, falcate: fr. crowned by the 

 persistent perianth; seeds flat. As defined by Rose 

 (1903), the genus contains about a dozen species, 

 Mexican, and Bravoa is not clearly distinct. The com- 

 mon tuberose, P. tuberosa, is unknown in a wild state; 

 if it had its origin from 

 any of the Mexican species, 

 it must have come from 

 P. gracilis. Possibly it is 

 native in the Andes of S. 

 Amer. 



The name Polianthes was 

 given to the tuberose by 

 Linnaeus in 1737 in his 

 "Genera Plantarum." 

 Unfortunately he wrote 

 ''Polyanthes in another 

 work, published in 1737. 

 This was probably an error. 

 Some writers have changed 

 the spelling to Polyanthus, 

 supposing that Linnaeus had 

 in mind the idea of "many- 

 flowered," from polys and 

 anthos. Others have sup- 

 posed he derived it from 

 polis, a city. It seems 

 probable, however, as Ben- 

 tham & Hooker suggest, 

 that Linnaeus had in mind 

 polios, "shining," -"white," 

 and anthos, "flower," which 

 is much more applicable to 

 the tuberose than are the 

 other derivations. Consult 

 Polyanthus for other mean- 

 ings of the word Polyan- 

 thus. The name "tuberose" 

 is derived from tuberosa, 

 this plant being the tube- 

 rous hyacinth as distin- 

 guished from the bulbous 

 hyacinth. The name there- 

 fore is tuber-ose,not tube-rose. 

 tuberosa, Linn. TUBEROSE. Fig. 3093. Rootstock 

 tuberous: sts. in clusters. 2-3 M ft. high: basal Ivs. 6-9 

 to a st., 1-1 Vi ft. long, Kin. or less wide, bright green, 

 reddish near the base: st. with 8-12 reduced lys.: fls. 

 1M-2K in. long, pure waxy white, borne in pairs in a 

 lax spike; segms. 1 A~% in. long, the tube bent only 

 near the base; filaments attached on upper part of 

 corolla. B.M. 1817. B.R. 63. R.H. 1882, p. 429. F. 

 1881 p 27. Gn. 47, p. 330. It runs into double forms. 

 Gn.W. 16:10. 



P BUssii, Hort., is a garden hybrid between Bravoa geminiflora 

 and P. tuberosa. P. grdcilis. Link & Otto (P. tuberosa yar. 

 gracilis. Baker), supposed to be Mexican, is distinguished by slen- 

 der habit and narrower Ivs.: perianth-tube long and slender; segms. 

 linear. Possibly the original form of P. tuberosa. P. maculata, 

 Mart., is a Manfreda (p. 1983). ^ jj g j 



Culture of the tuberose for bloom. 



There are only two objections to the tuberose: its 

 odor is too powerful for many persons, and, like the 

 calla lily, it has funeral associations. Therefore, fashion 

 has deserted it, at least in North America. Neverthe- 

 less great quantities of the bulbs are grown in this 



